T i p O f f !
by nannodayo
Summary: Whoever made the decision to put them in a room together should be fired. Preferably banished. And just… kept away from decision-making generally. [high school au] [sasunarusasu] [yaoi]
1. Where oh where is Sasuke?

**T **i p **O **f f !

chapter one: where oh where is sasuke?

by user nannodayo

**x**

summary: whoever made the decision to put them in a room together should be fired. and banished. and just… kept away from decision-making generally. [high school au] [sasunarusasu] [yaoi]

Sasuke moved through the crowded hall of his new boarding school in America, getting a certain sense of freedom from the fact that no one was staring at, or even taking notice of, him. He'd almost forgotten how it felt to be able to walk through a mass of people while drawing no attention; to go out in public and do as you pleased, since nobody knew or cared who you were – it was liberating, and he got the idea that he might actually enjoy that school year.

Receiving his timetable, campus map and room key from the main office, Sasuke sincerely hoped that whoever it was that he had to live with had no interest in Japanese current events – though that might be tough, considering the fact that he'd come to Konoha High specifically because it had a high density of Japanese students, and, therefore, good language programs. The latter was slightly redundant – he'd had English drilled into him since he was a child, and spoke it fluently, when he did speak at all.

'_That could be a problem, too,' _Sasuke reflected dully. Americans in general, he had observed, were the overtly chatty, friendly sort of people that he stayed away from as much as possible; he was almost always taciturn, even more so since the incident that had sparked the sudden move.

He sighed; the last thing he needed while attempting to re-start his life was a perky yank telling him to speak up more all the time.

The dorm buildings were two tall, square blocks, dotted at regular intervals with windows, curtained or otherwise. Neat gardens sprawled out around the feet of the blocks, an assortment of shady trees, flowered bushes, stretches of lawn and twisting footpaths. Shielding his eyes against the mid-morning sun, Sasuke squinted his obsidian eyes at the building; he counted eight floors and cursed inwardly. The lazy, half-asleep man at the office had told him that he was 'on the top floor', but this was ridiculous. He'd have to climb eight flights of stairs multiple times a day all year – if he wasn't already in top condition, he'd say that he'd be fit by the end of it.

Once he'd ascended all eight horrid flights of stairs – while carrying all of his things for the year, mind you – Sasuke took in the hallway that he found himself in. It was covered with dark blue carpet and standard, school grade, pale yellow paint and lined with six doors, three either side – after the lazy guy had actually fallen asleep, another man with long-ish brown hair parted to cover one side of his face explained that, on each floor, there were five dormitories, each housing two boys, and the sixth was a shared bathroom.

He located his room – 803, second on the right – and set his bags down, freeing his hands to fish the key from the pocket of his tight black, low-rise jeans. Jiggling the key into the lock, he heard the clink of the tumblers and opened the door a crack. He struggled with his bags for a moment before kicking the door the rest of the way open with his boot-covered foot.

Sasuke didn't bother to observe his new surroundings on the way in; he'd have plenty of time for that later, and his gabs were actually really heavy, whether he was fit or not. Spotting the two single beds, either side of a window, he dumped his things rather unceremoniously on and beside the bed on the left-hand side of the room. The other bed, as well as the rest of the room, was deserted of anything personal – his roommate hadn't arrived yet. This was understandable; they could come in at any time during the day, and it was still only about ten o'clock. The only reason that Sasuke had come so soon was because his older brother, Itachi, refused to stop asking him every manner of question on his new school.

Itachi, even if he royally pissed Sasuke off at times, had become a rock for his little brother after their parents had been killed by their slightly insane uncle, Obito. Itachi had dealt with the court case – and won easily – with all of the maturity and eloquence that his father would have. It was he who had suggested that they move to America in the first place – Sasuke had too much pride to admit that he was uncomfortable with all of the media's attention.

Sasuke had emphatically – or, as emphatically as an Uchiha could – agreed, after ensuring that it wasn't too much trouble. Within a few months, they had packed up everything that they needed or couldn't sell and jumped on a flight to the West Coast. They'd picked the school before even considering any apartments, because, to Itachi, his little brother's education was the top priority at the time.

He was unconcerned about money – their family had been quite rich, and their parents' will had given them a small fortune, plenty to support them for some time. Itachi had refused to do that, though, immediately finding a well-paying job as a manager for a small business, Akatsuki. Sasuke had no idea what the place actually did, but everyone who worked there was fucking _weird. _The one and only time that he'd visited, an extremely feminine man (with mouths tattooed on his hands – Sasuke had to admit that that was pretty cool) had attempted to show him his 'artwork', and he'd almost been blown up. Needless to say, he hadn't been since, nor had he asked about Itachi's job.

The town itself, Konoha, was a patchwork area, every building looking as though it were built at a different time and place. It was right by the seaside, too, not that Sasuke cared much for the beach – sand got absolutely everywhere, and he did not need that, thank you very much – but it did lend a pleasant atmosphere to the place. You could easily see the ocean from within the village, but from the beach, though, one was unable to see the township at all, due to the tall forest between the two. This lead, inevitably, to many people affectionately naming Konoha 'the Village Hidden in the Leaves', due, in part, to the fact that 'Konoha' _meant _'leaf' in the first place, as the eighty per cent of residents who were Japanese could tell you.

Either way, Sasuke mused as he settled himself in, folding clothes carefully away into the built-in closet on his side of the room, nobody knew who he was here. He was just another face, another name, mispronounced and then forgotten; he had a blank slate. Hell, even his nationality wasn't going to cause people to fuss over him – and that was just the way that he wanted it.

**x**

A tall, blond teen strolled casually towards the dorm building, his hands hidden beneath the orange material of his pockets. Almost every person that he passed, be it a student or a staff member, greeted him enthusiastically. He returned the sentiments wholeheartedly, engaging the passers-by in brief conversations, which mostly consisted of their shock at seeing him back and how tall he's grown. Consequently, a walk that should have taken a maximum of five minutes ate up nearly half an hour, and, as he shut the door to his dorm room with an exhausted sigh, it was nearing sunset.

The first thing that he noticed – and, really, it was hard not to – was the Japanese rock emitting from and iPod dock with a sleek black iPhone stuck into it. Recognising the lyrics, he started singing along in a soulful voice, dancing spontaneously to the rhythm as he turned around. He grinned toothily at the other guy in the room, who was seated at his desk, facing away from the blond, doing something on a white laptop. Said boy span around slowly in his chair, giving the ginning boy a blank but sceptical look.

"Hey," the blond said, in English, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, your roommate, I guess."

Bigger grin than before.

Even more sceptical look.

And so it began.

**x**

[AN: bc im so in love with hs au's and konoha shippu! gakuen den im writing an au oh my lord this is so exciting but terrifying tell me what you think pls xoxo]


	2. who the heck -

**T **i p ** O** f f !

chapter two: who the heck –

note: i'm shamelessly writing in some other jinchuuriki because i love them and i want to. yugito is the two-tails' vessel, utakata is the six tails' and fuu the seven tails'. bee is obviously the eight tails'.

**xx**

"Hello." Sasuke's answer was dry and blank, much like everything else he said to strangers.

"I like your music," the blond walked into the room as if Sasuke wasn't being as unreceptive as possible, and swung his stuff onto his bed. He was dressed more colourfully than Sasuke ever had in his life – although that wasn't really saying much – orange sweatpants, a black and red t-shirt and yellow high-top sports shoes. If the Uchiha ever so much as contemplated wearing that degree of colour he'd likely have a conniption. And then Itachi would laugh over his still body… he shuddered.

Seeing no reply to Naruto's statement, Sasuke simply let it be, returning to his laptop. Naruto was sitting on the edge of his bare mattress of a bed – in the free space that his bags weren't taking up – typing away quickly on his phone.

After a few minutes, he stood up again, with an exhalation of 'alright then' that really served no purpose other to invigorate himself.

"I'm going over to the basketball court before it gets totally dark, told my friend I'd meet him there. D'you wanna come?" he asked off-handedly, dragging a basketball out of a duffel bag (Sasuke wasn't going to bother contemplating the logistics of that).

Sasuke looked over at him, eyebrows raised. He had two options: say no, sit in his room and mess around doing a whole bunch of _not much_; or he could say yes and enjoy a game of basketball while getting to know his roommate and some other guy. Well, considering that he actually played basketball…

"Sure," he agreed easily, "But I'll need to change first. There is literally no way I can play in these jeans."

Naruto snorted in a rather undignified, shameless way. "Yeah, no kidding, you've really gotta sacrifice a lot of movement to get the added sexiness," he joked as he walked, backward, toward the door. Sasuke wondered how he could do that when he'd only been in the room five minutes and couldn't have memorised its layout yet.

**xx**

Partially hidden in the sprawling park next to their dorms was a recreational area with a mixed-use court – it was a combination of a tennis, basketball, netball and volleyball court, outdoors and surrounded by a chain-link fence. It was the type where, to use it, you had to put the net/hoop into round slots in the ground – or, if in the case of basketball, you had to swing the backboards around so that they fully extended into the lane. To one side of the court there was miscellaneous work-out equipment (all metal, and fixed to the concrete, bless them), and to the other side was four sheltered picnic tables.

When they arrived – with Sasuke changed into clothes that let him breathe a little – there was already someone on the court with the hoops out. Clad mostly in brown, with heavy eyeliner, violently red hair and a matching 'love' kanji tattooed on his forehead, Sasuke had to wonder what kind of friends the blonde kept.

"Gaara!" Naruto yelled enthusiastically, swinging the gate of the court open. The free throw that Gaara had just taken hit the rim of the hoop and bounced sadly over to rest at Naruto's feet. He turned to Naruto with a neutral expression, catching the ball when it was thrown to him.

"Naruto…" he said, his voice dry and somewhat hoarse. "You've gotten much – "

" – Taller, I know, I think that makes the hundredth time since I walked into school. Your shooting still sucks ass, man." Sasuke just lingered a little behind the blond, unsure of how this would proceed.

"I can imagine," the red-head commented, and if he were anyone else he probably would have chuckled or something. "It cannot be helped; defence is truly where my strength lies."

"Yeah, seriously, it's as if that's the _only _thing worth mentioning. No 'look how hot you got', oh no. Anyway… This is my roommate, Sasuke – he wanted to come, hope that's alright." Gaara just inclined his head a little.

"It's no matter. Do you know each other well?"

"Nope, just met him, like, ten minutes ago." Naruto crossed his arms behind his head. "Right, Sasuke?" he asked unnecessarily, twisting around, to grin at him. Sasuke frowned.

"Yeah…"

"See? And I thought he looked like he might not suck, so I asked, and here we are. Hey, are any of the other guys going here, do you know? Back in grade school, seven of us made us the sweetest team ever," he added to Sasuke for his benefit, receiving a short nod in return.

"Just Yugito and Utakata, I think," Gaara said, and Sasuke noticed that he had a slow, measured way of talking that was simultaneously kind of nice and a little draining to listen to.

"Dammit," Naruto scuffed his shoe on the ground. "I was hopin' Fuu would be here.

If Gaara had eyebrows – and Sasuke was actually a little disturbed by his lack of them, it looked so _wrong _yet it worked for him – then they would have shot upwards.

"Have you still got a crush on her?" he asked blankly, as if the answer was of no consequence. Maybe it wasn't. Sasuke couldn't tell. He didn't know these people, _ugh, _why had he thought that this would be good –

"Dude, no way!" Naruto protested loudly, jerking the ball out of Gaara's dormant hands. "I came out, like, a year ago, has it not sunken in yet?" With that he dribbled over to the hoop and angrily shot the ball up into the basket, if it was even possible to do so angrily. Sasuke remarked absently that he did so quite sloppily; his form was off, and he used too much power in the single jump – but the ball sailed through the hoop without touching it. Literally nothing but net. Naruto turned and stuck his tongue out at Gaara childishly.

"You did so over the internet. It rather lacked impact," Gaara admitted, retrieving the ball from it's resting point by the fence to throw it over to Sasuke, who caught it in surprise; he'd felt rather forgotten. He dribbled over at walking pace, slowly and carefully, but neither of them were coming at him; he jumped and executed a perfect layup.

"_So,_" Naruto started, catching the ball mid-bounce and holding it against his hip in a casual, practiced motion, "I seriously hope you're not a homophobe. That'd be really shitty. Say, d'you play at all, Sasuke?"

"No, I'm not a hypocrite, and yes. I've played since I was six," he answered shortly, following his personal custom of speaking only as much as he needed to so as to not reveal too much about himself. That privilege was reserved for when he decided that someone would be a worthwhile friend. Most people considered coming out to be 'highly personal', but Sasuke couldn't see the fuss in it.

"Ah, Gaara, another man joins our brave two-man front in the cruel world of homosexuality!" Naruto said emphatically, hooking an arm around Gaara's neck.

"Excuse him," Gaara pardoned his friend, prying himself out of the hold. "He often dramatizes things."

"I see," Sasuke said simply. After that, they simply played against each other on half of the court, though it was rather odd with there being three of them. They each had their strong points: Gaara's was, as he had said, defence – both in the air and on the ground, it was practically impossible to get by him; Naruto had a relaxed style that favoured one-on-ones and layups; and Sasuke was above average at everything – though he couldn't defend like Gaara and he didn't have Naruto's natural affinity for one-on-ones, he shot three pointers with great accuracy.

Just three gay guys playing basketball. Sasuke didn't know _how _he had wanted his first day at his new school to go, but this… would do. It felt nice, to be included so easily into Naruto and Gaara's platonic homosexual relationship. Maybe his roommate wouldn't be as bad as his orange pants had made Sasuke think he'd be.

Much later, while Sasuke was lying in bed, drifting off to sleep to the sound of Naruto's quiet snoring, he realised that the blond's passing comment about his pants might have been serious. He then proceeded to fall unconscious rather than dwell on something so potentially troubling.

**xx**

note: don't worry, they won't be all buddy-buddy for too long.


End file.
